I'm not a Damsel in Distress!
by ghostwriter1341
Summary: It's your favorite Spirit Detective, and boy, do I have a surprise for ya. Things are about to get seriously weird when an old friend of Kuwabara's shows up. She's crude, rude, and crazy. Don't expect things to go easy for us when we get an extra helping hand. Especially since she's the one drawing all sorts of demons our way. Luckily, this friend of his has tricks up her sleeves.
1. Chapter 1

Miki breathed with an elated sigh the city air. Not very good for the lungs, but it smelled familiar. She was back in home town after so many years. It had been ages since she first left way back when. As she hiked around the streets with her big, heavy, red backpack, Miki wondered if she could remember all the streets and roads. It had been a full eight years. She'd been away for such a long time, she wasn't sure if she was able to maneuver all by herself.

There was somebody she needed to see before getting all of her affairs in order, though. There was only was one person she hoped to see, an old friend by the name of Kazuma Kuwabara. He couldn't have gotten far, and knowing him as well as she did, it wasn't likely that he moved away. Spying a telephone booth out of the corner of her eye, Miki rummaged her pockets for spare change. As she waited for the businessman inside to finish his call, she counted the money she carried. When Mr. Suit and Tie was done, he hung up the phone, and closed the door behind him like he didn't even see her waiting to use it next.

"Rude." She muttered under her breath.

Her backpack was laid at her feet as she stood within the confines of the booth. There was no way she dumb enough to leave it outside, even though she would have more room to stand if it weren't for the big sack she'd been lugging around. Gently kicking it a bit just so her feet could have the smallest amount of room, Miki shoved her hands into her pocket again and pulled out her change. The coins made a metallic clank every time she pushed one into the slot. She didn't have much on her, and her wallet was somewhere in the mysterious, black hole she had of a backpack. Being lazy, she didn't want to fish through her stuff in public just to find one measly wallet. The change in her pocket was just enough to make one phone call for ten minutes, but nothing more after that.

She fed the machine until there was nothing left in her pockets. Miki stared at the dial buttons as if they could help her remember Kuwabara's home phone. She stared at them, and stared. It was a little while before the memory came to her slowly. If it didn't work, then she'd be left roaming around the city, looking for the bid dope. As much fun as it seemed to hunt down Kazuma, she was dogged tired from her flight and the sooner she got to him the better.

Hesitating, Miki began pressing the numbered buttons with slow accuracy. The number had to be right. Once or twice she had to think about the number before she was sure which number to press. She held the phone to her ear with one hand while she used her other to close the glass door behind her. With the sounds of cars and crowds drowned out by the door, Miki could clearly hear the dial tone starting to ring.

She would be lying to herself and others if she said that she wasn't nervous. Her heart was already pounding inside her chest. It was so audible she though that when and whoever picked up would be able to hear it too. The drumming was so loud and rapid; she could feel the blood in her ears throbbing. Finally, the person on the other end of the connection picked up. Miki was forced to swallow a large lump in her throat.

"Hello?" A raspy, but feminine and familiar voice answered.

"Is this the Kuwabara residence?" Miki asked, ignoring the voices of panic and anxiety rushing through her brain.

"It's not the emperor's palace, so yeah. And who may I ask is calling?"

"Shizuru…it's me Miki Tekei. I played with your brother when we were little kids."

There was a long pause. The woman on the phone inhaled and exhaled sharply like she was either smoking or impatient. The prolonged moment of silence only made matters worse in Miki's case. Had she dialed the wrong number?

"Oh yeah, I was wondering where you went to you. Back in town I see?" Shizuru sighed. "Unfortunately, my baby brother isn't here at the moment. He's off with some of his friends. I can call his cell if you'd like."

Miki sighed with relief. "I'd very much appreciate that. I mean, you don't have any idea how much that would mean to me."

"Sure, sure. Don't be a stranger, kido."

"Thank you. I won't."

Shizuru must have hung up before she did because the line went dead on Miki's end. She couldn't help but let a big smile grace her lips. Even as she hung up the phone and exited the booth, heaving her bag over her shoulders once more and even when her heavy bag threatened to topple her over and make her fall face first into the concrete, Miki couldn't erase the look on her face. She wanted to be happy. She hadn't been that way in a very long time.

It was good to be home.

* * *

"Hey, hey. Hey Kuwabara!" Yusuke somehow managed to break through Kuwabara's vacant expression and daydreaming.

"What!" He shouted back.

"Your phone's been going off for the last five and a half minutes. Don't you wanna answer it?"

Kuwabara dug into his pants pocket and retrieved a less-than modern flip-phone.

"Geez, Kuwabara, I know times may be tough for you, but I've never seen a phone like that except in the history books." Yusuke quipped, glancing over to Kuwabara's hand.

Scowling, the other boy turned his back on his friend.

"Maybe I like this phone, ever think of that? I don't need any of those useless apps or whatever. I just need a phone to make calls or maybe even texts. Nothin' fancy."

His friend couldn't stifle the chuckle building up.

"And who are you going to call or text? In case you haven't noticed, your only friends are those goons who follow you around school and me. I guess you can count Kurama, but I don't think he's the kind of guy who makes social phone calls when it pleases him."

"Oh shut up," Kuwabara finally answered his phone by pressing the TALK button. "Hello?"

"Kuwabara, you won't believe who just called the house." Shizuru answered.

"Who?" He looked more confused than usual.

"Do you remember Miki right? She called right out of the blue."

"Miki?" Kuwabara thought for a long while. He thought so hard his eyebrows furrowed into a sharp V. Then he remembered. "Miki! Miki's back in town! Are you serious?"

"First off, don't scream into the phone, dummy. I can hear you just fine at your normal level of loud. Second, yes, I'm serious. She's kind of set in seeing you again, I don't know why. Sounded like she wants a little reunion or something."

"Where is Miki?"

"Why are you only calling her by her name? And I don't know where she is. I must have forgotten to ask. I'm sure you'll run into each other sooner or later. She probably still remembers our address. "

"Well, um, the thing is—"

"I see." Shizuru said suddenly, with just hint of smugness in her voice. "You're afraid that your friends will find out that when you were a kid you were—"

"I let it happen, and you know it!" Kuwabara lowered his voice so Yusuke couldn't hear, although it was rather pointless with crowds of people brushing past them every second. "I let her win on purpose. I could have easily taken her down myself."

"Yeah, sure." Her voice was dripping in sarcasm.

"Well," Kuwabara spoke up. "If Miki shows up, tell 'em to wait and I'll be right over."

Shizuru sighed impatiently. "Alright, will do. If you see her before then, tell her I said 'hi.'"

"Yeah." He nodded and hung up.

Turning his back again, he found Yusuke looking curious.

"I've got three questions for ya: one, what was that about, two, who the hell is this Miki, and three, why are you wearing that goofy look on your face?"

Kuwabara cleared his throat. "What 'goofy face?' This is the face I was born with."

"So you were born looking like a love-struck puppy dog. I've only seen you make that face when you're making yourself look like a bigger idiot in front of Yukina. Who's Miki? An old flame?"

"Ha!" Kuwabara barked proudly. "You know my heart belongs only to Yukina. Miki is just an old friend. That's all."

"Friend? Since when do you have other friends?"

Kuwabara started walking away.

"Oh, come on! You know I was just kidding, Kuwabara!" Yusuke went after him.

"I haven't seen Miki in almost ten years." He paused.

_Darn it! If I say Miki's a girl, then they'll be sure to find out my secret! Yusuke would never let me live it down. I gotta keep it to myself. I'll lie. That's it. They won't ever have to know that Miki's actually girl. It works perfectly!_

"What happened?"

"Miki's family moved away when his dad got a job overseas in China. We played together since we were in diapers. I guess you could say Miki is my first best friend."

Yusuke clapped his arm around Kuwabara's shoulder. "Aw, ain't that sweet? Kuwabara's first best friend. I kinda want to meet this guy now. I gotta see what he's like. If he's your friend, he's got to take after you in some way! Dopey, dimwitted, a pain in the ass."

For a second, Kuwabara panicked. _Yusuke_ meeting _Miki_. Then his secret really would be out!

"I…don't think that's possible. Shizuru said he was kind of busy." He lied straight through his teeth, but was lucky enough that his friend didn't catch onto it.

"Busy with what? If he's taken the time to come all the way here from China, I'm sure he can't be that busy."

* * *

She sensed him. An apparition of incredible spiritual strength was closing in on her. Miki didn't need to see him with her physical eyes. The imaginary ones on the back of her head did the work for her. At first, it was just a nagging sensation. It kept building and building until she confronted the fact that it wasn't unwarranted paranoia. Somebody was following her. He was big, but not very. She could easily take him. Just not here. There had to be some place around here that would allow her to defeat him without bringing attention to herself.

Like a blast of foul air, a black aura seeped from the downtown district. She had never been there, but by the energy it was giving off, Miki felt that it was the safest place to take care of her unwanted groupie. She walked quickly, but calmly as not to alert her new friend that she had sensed him, down the winding streets and past a bunch of people along the way until the crowds dwindled into nothing. Miki cast her eyes downward as she traveled down darkened alleys populated by scum and riff-raff. They eyed her, curious and hungry, as she went past them, and stared as her pursuer followed not too far behind.

The city's grimy concrete structures were soon replaced with trees of all things. Miki had wandered into a small wooded area like a park or something. She had never been here before so the upper hand wasn't entirely hers. The one thing she was certain of was that the energy was definitely foul here. She could have sensed it from a mile away.

She walked further and deeper into the woods until she and the demon following her were covered by the thicket of trees. It was dark in there, despite the sun being so bright out that day. Not quite to her advantage either.

_Oh well, _she thought. _Since I'm here._ Her backpack was dropped to the grassy floor in a clearing far from where she entered the wooded enclosure.

"Alright, I know you've been following me, so go ahead and show yourself. I've got things to do and people to see. Stop wasting my time!"

Miki turned on her heels. Before her eyes was nothing but an old man in fedora and trench coat. His clawed hand, however, made the disguise a moot point. He removed his hat and revealed a pair of long, pointy ears. He greeted her with jaws filled with shark teeth.

"How perceptive of you. They don't make psychics like you anymore."

"Yeah. It must be a darn shame. Any particular reason why you're following me." She took a defensive stance.

"Is your name…Miki Tekei?"

She sneered. _Should've known._

"And if I am?"

He bowed his head in a feign display of politeness and respect.

"Then I must ask you to come with me."


	2. Chapter 2

The demon continued to smile at her, and to be frank, it was getting on her nerves.

"Who are you working for? I've been hounded by demons, imps, and all sorts of monsters since I left China. So, I need to know who's pulling the strings. I can't honestly be _that_ important for somebody to go through the effort of chasing me all the way from China to a lesser known city in Japan. Who did I tick off?"

He tossed aside his trench and hat. Underneath it all, he was no old man. No, his chest was too ripped. The muscles appeared to be on the verge of tearing out of his own blackening skin. His trousers were torn to pieces as his lower half morphed as well. The leather shoes on his feet were no match for his protruding fur-covered legs and clawed toes. A black lion's tail poked out from behind him. As he stalked towards her the tail swished back and forth. She didn't shrink, but held her stance firm. Digging her feet into the ground to keep a solid hold, Miki could only wait and watch for his next move. Patience, her fighting style required a great deal of patience.

"I was told that you would be a formidable opponent; that you are not like other humans. To be honest, I don't feel that much spiritual energy coming from you. Are you sure your name is Miki Tekei? I don't want to go to my employer with the wrong girl."

"Trust me; you've got the right person. Answer me this, since you're in a talkative mood, who sent you?"

The demon's head was completely covered in a black hide. His eyes turned yellow. Black slits cut down the middle of his eyeballs, creating his new pupils. Shaking his grizzly head, which oddly enough still had gray hair flowing down to his neck, he kept coming forward.

"I can't give you that information, even if I wanted to. I was hired to find you, kidnap you, and take you to a designated location. It was done in a very cloak and dagger kind of way. I didn't even get a chance to see his face. From what I heard, he's already sent many a demon after you. Do you have a traveling companion, then, because I can't for the life of me see how one girl can kill them all by herself."

Miki smirked.

_You're in for a rude awakening, pal._

"For your information, I'm traveling on my own. You may find it surprising but I am the one who's slaying any demon who thinks he can so easily get his grubby hands on me. Nobody but me."

At this, the demon threw his head back and howled with laughter. Saliva coated the corners of his mouth. Miki could only stand there and take the humiliation. But there was only so much of it she could take.

"Why don't you come over here and laugh in front of my face, old man!"

Miki didn't see it. There was a flash of black coming towards her, and then she was pulling herself up from the grass. She spat out a few blades of grass as she weakly managed to push herself up, propping her elbows on the ground. Miki lay like that on her hands and knees, her eyes looking every which for attacker. If she caught a glimpse of him, he quickly took flight, leaving nothing but an afterimage. His movements were so fast she had trouble keeping up with him. The frustration building up didn't help matters either.

_Remember, Miki, your power is controlled by emotion; the more you feel, the more energy is released._

"I know, you senile old goat. I don't need you to remind me." She muttered through her grinding teeth.

A black blur flew across her line of vision again.

"If you keep talking to yourself like that, people might think you're mad." The demon's teasing voice echoed through the dismal clearing. The echo seemed to bounce off the trees and reverberate through the branches.

Miki lurched upwards, only to grab her stomach. The girl nearly doubled over in pain. There was no blood, but he certainly did a number on her. When she would later, Miki didn't doubt she would at the very least have a bruise roughly the size of a large fist on top of her gut. Her teeth ground together even harder just so she had something to focus on rather getting angry and blow up the woods. It was dangerous. Her teacher drilled it into her head for so long there was no way she would forget it, not even when she became an old woman herself.

"What's the matter, young lady? Have you finally realized that arrogance will get you nowhere?"

She had enough of his taunting.

"Why don't you come out and face me like a real man instead of running around? Fight me!" Miki spat.

Then there was silence. Dreadful, deafening silence. She couldn't help but swallow the hard lump in her throat. Casting her eyes in every direction possible, she still couldn't find her demon. It was as if he vanished into thin air. There was nothing for her to hear. Not even the gentle brushing of grass blades or branches crashing into each other by the wind. There was nothing except her own heartbeat and breathing.

Rather than panic, she made the hand sign, focusing her mind on finding the demon's energy signature. It was…above her?

Miki didn't have enough time to get out of the way soon enough. He landed behind her; his monstrous feet crashing loudly into the damp earth. His massive arms ensnared her. The demon's heavily muscled arms had her trapped, holding her shoulders and neck. It wasn't much of an effort for him to slowly lift her off the ground. Despite her desperate kicking, the demon seemed to prevail. His laughter was so close to her ear that Miki thought she really would go deaf. Though she would probably pass out from being so close to his noxious breath.

"Not so tough now, are you, little lady? I still don't see how those other guys were so easily defeated. You're nothing special!"

His arm tightened around her throat.

"I…thought…you weren't going…to…kill me?" Miki choked out. The pressure of his arm against her neck like that was painful. Really painful.

"I'm not. I'm just going to hold you like this until you pass out." He stopped laughing. "Don't worry, I worry do anything while you're napping, but to be perfectly honest you are rather tempting. It's been a while since I've smelled the delicate scent of human maiden. Been longer since I've had a _bite _of one too."

Suddenly, there was spike of spiritual energy. It was as if a new player was being introduced to the game. Miki wasn't the only one who felt it. The demon spun around; her legs swung helplessly like she was a ragdoll. While he was distracted, Miki used what remaining power she had to lift her arms just a little. She only manage to reach his arms before he saw what she was doing and tightened his grip on her. His hard muscles against her throat and chest nearly knocked all of the air out of her.

"Don't you try anything, little one."

Miki gasped for breath, but she didn't stop trying to fight back. Something else was coming. They could both feel it. The spiritual pressure of the area was growing denser as the source came ever so closer. She could feel the demon's heart beating faster and the hairs on his arms were spiking upwards like a frightened cat.

"Who's there?" The demon shouted, but no one answered.

He was beginning to panic. The wait was driving him nervous, and even if he tried harder to hide it from his captive, Miki knew that he was panicking. She could feel it in his aura that he was scared of something.

"It would be wise to release the girl. I'm not sure what your plans are, but you will not get very far with her."

The demon was stunned; his yellow eyes narrowed and a deep growl escaped his sneering lips.

"Kurama, you traitorous dog!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "I have no business with the likes of you!"

"I…wish you'd…stop screaming. I'm…going deaf down…here." Her nails were starting to dig into his arms.

With a quick tug and a growl, he silenced her. "Quiet, you!"

A figure appeared from the dark trees. Miki blinked once, and then twice, and then a third time. She knew demons existed. She'd seen and fought with them for half of her life. It was no shock to her. But she didn't know that they could be so…handsome.

He was tall and athletic like an Asian Adonis. White hair flowed down to his waist. She was sure that this was his true form because of what her captor had said next.

"This is the fearsome Kurama? How the mighty have fallen? You look like a disgraceful human. Ha, it's rather fitting actually. You're going to be killed in the human form you love so much."

"And how do you suppose you fight me? Your arms are currently occupied."

The demon was stunned again.

"Why don't you try to take her from me then? But can you attack me when I've got her like this? You wouldn't dare make a move on me as long as I have her as a meat shield!" He suddenly regained his confidence. "You can't lay a finger on me."

The other demon made no verbal response. His face was stoic. If she was going to do something, now would be the perfect time. But lo and behold, this…Kurama...was reaching behind his neck, for a weapon no doubt. Miki ground her teeth again.

"Don't…you even dare!" She managed to scream out though the pressure of the demon's arm hurt her throat.

The demons looked at her confused. The one named Kurama froze in his movements, his hand still behind him. Miki somehow was able to loosen the demon's grip around her throat. She could speak more clearly now.

"I may be a damsel, and I may be in distress, but I don't need to be rescued. I handle it." She glowered at the demon in front of her. "Have a nice day."

"Be reasonable."

"Stick it up your ass, pompous jerk! If I needed saving, I would ask, but since I don't," she made the hand sign again. "I'll just rescue myself, if you don't mind."

"Wha—" Her captor became aware of a new spike of energy in the air. This time it was coming from the girl, whose eyes were closed in concentration.

White sparks flew around her left hand, the same hand she made the sign with, and with a swift jerk, freed herself. He was sent flying into the trees, crashing into everything, and knocking down half of the forest. Even as he was flung like a he weighed nothing at all, the demon felt the strong energy emitting from her, coursing through his body like poison. It took only the slightest tap on his arm, but he felt it. She poisoned him with her own energy. This must have been how the others were defeated so easily. She wasn't a normal human.

When the dust settled and they made sure that the demon was never again going to rise, Miki stared at the other one, who seemed less than innocent. She took a defensive stance, unsure of whether or not to treat him as an ally or an enemy. The demon did call Kurama a traitor, so she took to mean that he was friendlier to humans than most of his kind.

"I don't want to hurt you. I thought you were in danger." He seemed a little shocked by the display of her power. He glanced over at the unmoving body, sure that it was dead now. "Had I known that you were so powerful, I wouldn't have bothered."

"And I guess I should apologize for what I said earlier. It wasn't called for. I get cranky when I'm tired." She fetched her backpack.

"That's an awfully heavy-looking pack you've got there. Are you a traveler?"

At first, Miki wasn't sure if she understood why a demon was making small talk with her. It might have been a trap, but she didn't have any such bad premonition. She didn't trust him completely, but at the very least she could be polite and converse for a while.

"Of sorts. I just got back from China a few hours ago. I'm looking for somebody." She adjusted the straps so that they rested more comfortably on her shoulders. She hadn't realized how heavy the thing was until now after she had taken it off for more than five minutes. The fight with the demon must have taken more time than she thought.

"Might I ask who?"

She shrugged. "Just an old friend. I doubt you've seen him."

"I might know."

"Eh, doubtful. It's been a long while since I've seen him. He's kind of tall, lanky, red hair, but it's really more on the ginger side than actually red. Prominent cheek bones, if I recall correctly." Her index finger touched her chin as she thought.

"Would this friend of yours be named Kazuma Kuwabara?"

Miki turned to him, shocked herself. "Y-yeah. You know him."

"You could say that we're acquainted with each other. Does he know you're here?"

She shrugged again. "I don't know exactly. I talked to his sister, though."

"I can take you to him, if you'd like."

The girl hesitated. If he was trying to grab her, he could have done so at any time, yet here he was, making conversation like there wasn't a dead demon five feet away from him. Miki couldn't sense any sort of bad or evil aura, nothing particularly evil any way, and reading his aura, she could tell that he was telling the truth. He looked like a demon with his unnaturally tall stature, unnatural hair color, and a pair of fox ears sticking out of his head. She had to be the only one to see it, but oh well. It wouldn't be the first time she was the outcast. She'd always been abnormal. Seeing a demon in broad daylight wasn't anything new to her. She just hoped that Kazuma would still be her friend after her found out.

"If you know the way, go right ahead. But I have to warn you, though, try any funny business, and you'll end up like your friend back there," she pointed with her thumb to the corpse, which was now being covered with slowly falling tree branches.

Kurama looked nervous, but tried to smile nevertheless.

"Perfectly understandable."

* * *

"Come on, let me see this guy! I'll really want to know what he's like!" Yusuke continued to badger his friend even as they walked down the street to the bus stop.

"Like I said, he's probably busy!"

"What are you hiding all of a sudden? Was this guy your gay crush or something? No judgments here."

Kuwabara grabbed the front of Yusuke's jacket.

"I'm not gay, Urameshi. There wasn't anything like that between me and Miki."

He pushed Yusuke roughly away from him. Yusuke straightened himself, but he wasn't through just yet. This business with Kuwabara's old friend was really starting to bug him. Was it really just plain old curiosity. Most likely. There wasn't anything else interesting about Kuwabara, and now all of a sudden Yusuke knows about this friend he had before he became a street punk. This guy, Yusuke had to meet this Miki guy other he might explode from sheer annoyance.

"Sorry." Yusuke mumbled.

They went silent standing at the bus stop.

"Will Yukina know about this friend of yours?"

"Maybe."

"Whatever." Yusuke put his hands behind his neck. "Like I care anyway." That was a lie.

Minutes went by. Cars stopped and drove past them. Others joined them standing around at the bus stop, each having their own destination to get to. Yusuke's arms finally started going numb. He put them down and stuffed them into his pockets, but before he did that, he glanced at his watch.

"That's weird." He muttered.

"What is?"

"Usually Kurama is on time or arrives early. If he doesn't show up, he's gonna miss the bus."

Kuwabara glanced at his own watch. "Uh, that's right. It's not like him to be late. What do you suppose he's doing right now that could be so important."

"Either he's studying or chasing off his fan girls," chuckled Yusuke.

Kuwabara looked around the block and couldn't find a single trace of a certain red-headed fox demon. One would think that it was an easy task. His eyes scanned in every direction, but his attempts in finding their friend and comrade were futile. That is until the same Kurama was making his way down the street across from them. His red hair was a dead giveaway. Following closely behind him was a girl, about fifteen or so, with dark chestnut hair pulled into a pony-tail and carrying a red back pack on her back. Although she was far away and he could only see her profile, Kuwabara was certain that she looked familiar. Why did she look familiar?

He concentrated on her face, thinking, and thinking, and thinking some more. His memories were rolling through his mind like a slow film strip. Then it dawned on him. Kuwabara felt his face light up. It couldn't be, could it?

"Kuwabara, what's with the face?" Asked Yusuke.

Startled, Kuwabara nearly jumped in the air. He waved his arms in front of him like a maniac.

"N-nothing's wrong. Absolutely nothing. Nothing wrong here. Not to worry." He rambled on and on.

Even Yusuke was confused and worried about his friend's odd behavior. It seemed that something had scared him. Kuwabara's face was flushed.

"Kazuma!" Someone yelled across the street.

A girl was waving her arm in the air while the other held onto the strap of her big backpack.

"Do you know that girl?"

Kuwabara's face flushed even more until the whole thing looked like an oddly shaped tomato.

The girl was standing next to Kurama, and when the traffic signal allowed them, they crossed over.

"Kazuma! I know you can hear me!" The girl continued. She was looking more and more perturbed as Kuwabara continued to not to respond.

He turned away.

"Hey, I know we haven't seen each other in a while, but I didn't think you'd become more dimwitted than before." She put her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me, but how do you know him?" Asked Yusuke.

The girl flipped her hair with an air of attitude, pouting, but it wasn't likely that she was giving him this look. Her frustrations were clearly meant for Kuwabara.

"I'm his friend, Miki Tekei."

Yusuke went stone cold silent. His jaw could have dropped to the ground if he was able. He looked at Kuwabara, who was looking like he was about to explode and then at the girl who was just plain irritated. Despite the angry look, Yusuke couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"You're Miki!" His laughter was so loud and obnoxious it grabbed the attention of the others standing at the bus stop.

"And just what's so funny?"

Yusuke stopped laughing for a couple of minutes, wiping tears from his eyes.

"He had me thinking you were guy!"

Miki spun on her heels, facing Kuwabara, who was looking pretty nervous right about now.

"Why would you tell 'em that? Are you ashamed of me or something? Is that it?"

"N-no," Kuwabara stuttered.

"What is so wrong with me being a girl, Kazuma? We used to play together all the time. Why would you…Ah," an idea seemed to suddenly come to her. She turned again, facing forward this time, grinning. "I see now."

"Now, I _really _wanna know." Yusuke slung an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Spill."

"He doesn't want you to know that he got beat up by a little girl when he was a kid." Miki answered rather bluntly.

"MIKI!" Kuwabara hollered.


	3. Chapter 3

"How long have you known Kuwabara?"

Miki sighed. "Apparently, not long enough." She returned to pouting.

The bus ride to Genkai's couldn't have been more awkward. Whenever Kuwabara said something, she gave him a deadly glance. He'd flinched when she didn't even raise a hand against him.

"You've been in China this whole time?" Yusuke asked.

"Yep, Dad was called away on business, but we never expected to stay so long. I had to beg them to let me come back on my own." She glared at Kuwabara, who decided to sit across from her rather than next to her. "It was supposed to be a surprise, but I guess a certain someone hasn't bothered to think about me, so the surprise is ruined now."

"What's it like?"

"China?" Miki held her chin between her thumb and index finger, deep in thought. "Let's see, it's big. Me and my mom lived out in the country. She gets sick easily, so we lived near these mountains outside Shang Hai. The fresh air has helped her breathing a lot. What else? It's kind of hard to describe it. It's sometimes loud, but other times it can be very peaceful. I'm not what else I could say about it."

"Did you learn anything like kung fu?" Yusuke seemed excited about it.

"Well," Miki paused. "I guess you could call it that."

She noticed how Kurama shifted slightly. He must have thought that it was invisible, but she could see him. He wasn't afraid of her. That much she knew for certain. A demon like him could never be scared of someone like her, no matter how powerful she could be. Yet, he knew her little secret. He saw the way she fought. He knew what she was capable of. Whether or not he was smart enough to keep it to himself was a mystery for the future.

"You can fight. Don't know many girls who can do that." The boy seemed impressed, yet he hadn't seen her fight.

"You'll find that I'm not like other girls." She smirked.

The conversations went on like this. Kuwabara remained oddly silent. He kept stirring his eyes away from Miki with that embarrassed red face of his getting redder and redder by the minute. He was relieved when the bus stopped just outside the woods, where Genkai lived. They all stood up and Yusuke noticed how Miki struggled to lift her backpack off the floor.

"That looks heavy."

"It is." Despite its obvious weight, Miki managed to sling it over her shoulders. "I'm used to it by now."

They exited, with Kuwabara behind them.

Yusuke turned to her. "Are you hungry?"

Miki patted her stomach as they made their way close to the temple. "I could eat a horse."

"We were going to order Chinese, but I'm sure you'd prefer something else."

She chuckled. "I've been eating nothing _but _Chinese food for the past eight years. I would kill for just a bowl of udon soup."

"We'll see what we can do." Chuckled Kurama.

Despite being all boys, the three of them were greatly surprised, and somewhat horrified, with how much food Miki was able to put away.

"Geez, save some for the rest of us." Yusuke reached with his chopsticks for a piece of sushi. "It's like you haven't eaten days."

Miki slurped up the noodles in her udon soup, guiding them with her chopsticks. When done for the moment, she wiped the corner of her mouth with the corner of her mouth.

"You might say that." And she went back to eating.

"What do you mean by that?" Kuwabara sounded concerned.

Miki flinched, but it was just barely visible. Kuwabara would never have noticed it, but Kurama and Yusuke did. Her eyes flashed with a nervous look and she paused mid-chew with the noodles dangling from her mouth like tentacles. She swallowed with an awkward gulp. It seemed like a long time before she even answered.

"I was just so excited about being back home that I must have forgotten to grab a bite to eat earlier. That's all." She quickly went back to her bowl of soup, hoping that her old friend had bought it.

Kuwabara didn't notice her flinch just a moment ago, but he certainly noticed her hesitation as well as that weird look in her eyes. He put aside his chopsticks and leaned closer to her. Miki pretended not to notice him. She kept eating her meal like nothing was wrong. Only, this didn't help her keep up appearances. She glanced at least once, but that was all she needed to know. He was looking at her as if he knew she was hiding something from. He usually was the first person to know that she was lying, a trait that was not all in her favor. Miki cast her eyes at the wall past Yusuke's head, averting her gaze completely away from Kuwabara. Yet, even when she looked away, she could still his eyeballs burning a hole in her skull.

"You're in trouble, aren't you?"

Miki nearly choked on the noodles. Hot udon soup sputtered from her mouth as she hacked and coughed like a smoker losing the battle with addiction. Grabbing a nearby napkin, she coughed into that instead of spreading food and germs everywhere. She beat the center of her chest as if they would be of any help.

"Are you okay?" Yusuke didn't know what was going on, which was normal. What wasn't normal was this girl. She had been acting like a normal teenage girl, aside from her wolfish appetite, tom-boy mannerisms, and utter lack of certain feminine qualities. This Miki character had been fairly normal until just a minute ago, until he said that it seemed like she hadn't eaten in days.

What did she mean by 'you might say that?' And why did Kuwabara get the sudden notion that she might be in trouble? Kuwabara certainly was above average among humans when it came to spirit awareness, but he wasn't a mind reader.

"W-what gave you that idea, Kazuma?" Miki gave out a stuttering laugh.

"Don't play dumb!" His fist rammed into the table. "I can see it your eyes. You're a bad liar and you know it. You've got this weird look. I know I haven't been the best friend, and I shouldn't have lied like that, but you've got to believe me when I say that I'm not turning my back on you. I know that you're in trouble. Just spit it out already!"

The girl became downcast. With her head bowed and her half-empty bowl placed on the table, she sighed.

"It's nothing you need to worry about. I can take care of myself."

"Then why are you hiding your face." He spoke uncharacteristically serious.

Miki's knuckles turned white as she held her hands in such tight fists.

"I told you that I can take care of myself."

"I'm your friend."

There was long moment of silence. Miki reached and ran her fingers through her pony-tail. Her elbow was propped against the hard surface of the table while her hand rested on her forehead, rubbing her temples.

"Let's just say that…certain people have been trying to get in contact with me."

"What? Like a stalker?" Yusuke butted in.

Miki shook her head. "You two will think I'm crazy."

"You may as well tell them. You'll find that we are quite used to situations like yours." Kurama took a sip from his tea as if nothing was wrong and the atmosphere was charged with energy.

"What are you saying, Kurama? You act like you know something?" Yusuke turned to him. "What's going on?"

"This afternoon I found her engaged in combat with a demon. I didn't know who she was at first, only later did she give me her name. When I found her, a demon had his arms around her throat, choking her into unconsciousness. Apparently, even without any assistance from me, she would have escaped on her own. She seems to possess a strange power involving a great amount of energy. A mere touch on his arm, and the demon was dead."

Miki looked up for a second to glare at him, and then mumbled an insult under breath.

"Who'd you piss off?"

She looked at Yusuke.

"I would like to know the same thing. I haven't done much to anybody, human or demon. Unless you count my arch rival, An Li, but that's a different story for a different dinner table. About a week ago, demons from Japan started showing up where I lived. Each of them told me that they were hired by somebody who was looking for me. None of them ever saw his face, although if they did, they wouldn't tell me anyway." She put her hand under her chin. "I thought that if I came back, they'd lose their trail. Guess I was wrong."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"When? When we were standing at the bus stop or on the bus with a bunch of people standing around? Besides, I didn't want you to involved, Kazuma."

"Oh yeah, why's that?"

The room became terribly suffocating. It wasn't easy watching Kuwabara argue with a girl, though it was clear that she was about to break. They didn't need to know her very well to know that she was about to crack. Her knuckles were completely white now, and her shoulders were shaking.

"Because you act too much like a big brother! I'm older than you! Why can't you let me take care of myself?"

"I can fight too! You don't have to do things alone!"

Miki's face paled.

Nobody talked for several minutes. Miki buried her face in her hand. A string of indecipherable Chinese words spewed from her mouth, but it was difficult to hear exactly. She mumbled under her breath.

"You're not going to let go, are you?"

"Admitting defeat?"

"Seems like it." She gave Kuwabara a good slug in the shoulder without even looking, and then she took her hand away from her eyes.

They both looked at each other, smiled, and then started laughing until they were clinging onto one another like a pair of old drinking buddies at a bar.

Naturally, Yusuke and Kurama were lost in the moment.

"Do you know what's going on?" Asked Yusuke, turning to his equally confused comrade next to him.

"I haven't the slightest, I'm afraid."

"Good. I didn't want it to be just me."

After a few minutes listening to the two of them laughing up a storm across the table, Yusuke became just plain annoyed.

"If you two chuckle-heads are done, I'd like to ask a few questions!" He had to holler in order to grab their attention.

Miki and Kuwabara returned to their upright positions. She wiped the corner of her eye. The air in the room seemed less stifling now that the pressure everyone surely felt was released.

"Ask away," Miki went back to eating as if nothing was wrong.

"When you were fighting this demon earlier, what exactly did you do?" Yusuke leaned just a tiny bit over the table.

Slurped up a long string of noodles, then wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"My spiritual energy takes the form of electricity. Unlike other folks," she paused to discretely burp and excuse herself, "my energy behaves just like the electricity that powers our homes and cities, yet remains completely spiritual. All it takes, usually, is for me to come in direct contact with skin and send my energy through the body, overriding my opponent's energy."

"I see." Kurama seemed to be the only one who could connect the dots. "In other words, you are able to electrocute your opponents with yours spiritual energy."

She down the remnants of broth sitting at the bottom of her bowl. The empty dish joined the small pile she had been accumulating through the whole meal.

Nodding, "Basically."

"Who taught you how to do that? If that's what they teach over in China, sign me up. I'll gladly become a Communist if I could learn to do that!"

Miki immediately rolled her eyes at Yusuke's comment.

"A friend of the family taught me, and it's not something _you_ should be learning. The last thing the world needs is another idiot with a fancy power running around."

"A friend of the family?" Yusuke repeated. "What kind of people does your family make friends with?"

Miki seemed to take offense. She sighed, annoyed, "My family makes friends with psychic masters, you make friends with fox demons."

Three pairs of eyes stared at her as if she had grown a second head. Her face turned red. She looked around.

"You don't know, do you?" Miki looked and sounded nervous.

"You can see him?" Yusuke glanced from Kurama to Miki. Even he wasn't even able to tell whether or not Kurama was a demon. There were no outward signs.

"I was born with a hyperactive spiritual awareness. I see a lot of things others can't." She ran her hand through her hair. "You can't see it?"

"Um, no. That's why I'm asking you." This was starting to annoy him. "What exactly do you see?"

Miki glanced at Kurama and looked down into her nearly empty bowl of soup.

"Lots of things. It's sometimes really scary, terrifying even. I hate it. I can't turn it off. And its not just demons. I can ghosts too. I wake up in the morning, get dressed, and the second I walk out the door I'm greeted with a specter wandering down the road, looking for his severed head. I go to the market and I find this white snake wrapped around an old man's neck, and he doesn't even know that the demon's slowly killing him." She paused, a heavy sigh escaped her lips. Massaging her temple, Miki continued. "That's why I came back home. So I could find a normal life. Sadly, that's not going to happen."

"We can start by figuring out who's been trying to kidnap you."

Everyone was surprised by Yusuke's sudden and out of character offer of help. One of Miki's eyebrows shot up. She gave him a scrupulous kind of look.

"I don't even know where to begin, and _you_ want to help me. Good luck," she went back chowing down on her soup. "And you can tell that fire apparition sitting outside for the past twenty minutes to go away. He's starting to creep me out."


	4. Chapter 4

I just got a plug-in keyboard from my computer since the original kind ran into a glass of water. So I'm available to type wherever, whenever. This fanfiction and my others should have updates coming soon. I can't make promises, but I'll get there, eventually. Also, I don't like this title any more. I might change it, but I'd like your opinion, and if you have ideas please feel free to share. Thanks. Chow, sweetings!

* * *

The only thing that scared them more than her eerily accurate power to see demons was her stoic face and the fact that she was still eating her udon soup like nothing was wrong. It seemed that she had this kind of conversation before, and it wasn't odd in the slightest. As if admitting that you could see demons and ghosts other people said all the time in everyday conversations. Kurama looked at her with an unusual uneasiness he was not known for. He may have been a demon, but this was the first time Kuwabara and Yusuke saw him look so nervous. Quietly excusing himself, Kurama left the table and disappeared. Miki slurped loudly and downed the last bowl of soup, licking the corner of her lips.

"I know I can be scary sometimes, but he didn't have to leave. It's not like I care whether or not he's a fox demon." She picked up a greasy, sugar-coated doughnut. Taking a bite, she continued with a mouthful of deep fried dough. "It's not like I'm a demon hunter or whatever."

"So you don't care?"

She swallowed and looked irritated. "I just said so. At this point, I don't care who's a demon because I see so many of them. Usually they don't cause a lot of harm, and if humans weren't so gullible, then we wouldn't have a problem." She took another doughnut.

"Jeez, do you have a black hole for a stomach?" Yusuke stared in awe, and disgust, as Miki kept stuffing her mouth with food.

"I have a high metabolism," she mumbled with half of her mouth full of doughnut. "More importantly, there's a lot that goes into my powers. Emotion, physical stamina, focus. If even the smallest thing goes out of whack, I'm not going to be able to use my ability to its fullest."

"It sounds like your training was tough." He went on.

Miki wiped the extra sugar from the corners of her mouth. She pushed her bowls and chopsticks out of the way. She didn't reach for anymore food, so her stomach must have finally gotten full.

"Uncle is a down to earth kind of man, funny, and unreserved. His training...not so much."

"Uncle? I thought you were Japanese?"

"I am, but my _sifu_ isn't. He's friend of the family. He was friends with grandparents, and then my mom. He's my godfather as well. Everyone calls him 'uncle' cuz he makes himself a part of almost everyone's family. There's only a few people he asks to call him Mr. Zhao."

An awkward moment.

Yusuke was running out of things to talk about. He looked over at Kuwabara; he seemed just as confused as he was. An apparently as quiet too. There was also the distinctive look of worry in his furrowed eyebrows and over all expression.

"How are your parents?" Kuwabara broke the weird silence.

"Good. They're doing good. Mom's been a lot better since moving out into the country. Dad said that he's almost done with business in China, so they might move back home very soon."

"You're living by yourself?" Kuwabara yelled.

Miki waved him off with an annoyed hand.

"No need to raise your voice, Twinkle Toes. I'm right here." She sighed, taking a sip from her water. "I'm a big girl. I can tie my own shoe laces and everything."

"Aren't you scared?" Kuwabara went on to ask, his voice lowered.

"To live by myself. As if."

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm a strong independent woman who needs no man." Miki chuckled when she saw them make confused faces. "But seriously though, I'm not afraid of living by myself. I may have lived with my mom and godfather for the past seven, eight, years of my life, but how am I supposed to learn how to take care of myself if I keep myself sheltered under some authority figure? I can handle it."

There was a knock, and the shoji door opened. Kurama stood alone. In one of his hands, he held onto a video tape.

"Yusuke, we got something from Koenma. Said that it's urgent." He glanced over at Miki. "You don't need to get up. We'll be back shortly."

Yusuke and Kuwabara stood up and went to follow Kurama.

Yusuke looked over his shoulder, "Don't finish off the food while we're gone."

Video tape in hand, Kurama placed it inside the VHS player. Spirit World was still very far behind in the times, but did it really matter? As long as information was passed along safely and securely, the method of transferring information mattered very little. He pressed the play button and the familiar static filled the background before anything visible could be seen.

Lo and behold, his royal highness appeared and behind him a monitor.

"I hoped you enjoyed your vacation, Yusuke, because I've got another case for you." The little prince chimed.

"Great," Yusuke moaned.

"This one will be much more challenging." The screen behind Koenma flickered on. The photographs of seven different girls, all young and attractive popped up. "Unlike the last one, we don't know where any of these girls are. We only know their names and where they were last seen."

"Then let the police handle it. This doesn't sound like something I should get into."

"And you're asking, 'why can't we let the police take care of it?' Allow me to explain." Yusuke was quickly silenced while the pictures of the missing girls were blown up and flashed and disappeared on screen like a movie reel. "If it was an ordinary case of missing persons, then, yes, I would let the police in Human World handle it. However, it's not. All of these young girls were taken from one place in the city."

A restaurant in the middle of downtown took over the whole of the T.V screen.

"There has been an enormous amount of spiritual pressure coming from this Chinese restaurant in your city. For the most part it appears like a normal business. However, when we analyzed the times when the girls went missing, there was a spike in the energy field that corresponded with the time each girl failed to reappear. We aren't sure who is responsible, how they do it, and what they do with their captives. That's where you come in." Koenma reappeared on screen.

"The missing girls all have similar physical characteristics. Fair skin, dark hair, and subjectively speaking attractive. It could be any number of demons at work." Kurama thought out loud. "They're very clever, sneaking so many girls away without too much attention drawn to them."

"Just how do we get in? The place looks like a bowl soup there costs more than my mom pays rent." Yusuke scratched his head, trying to think. "What's this place even called?" He moved closer to the T.V screen to get a closer look. "Tai-en Ma?"

"Tee-en Ma. It means 'the heavenly horse,' probably names after the astrological sign. Generally speaking, the horse is a symbol of good luck in Chinese symbolism." Miki appeared in the living room and they wouldn't have noticed her if she hadn't spoken up.

"W-when did you get in here?" Yusuke pointed at her as she made her way to the television set.

"Right around when the pictures of girls showed up." She looked at Yusuke. "What's with the baby?"

"That's not really any of your business." He rose up suddenly.

"There isn't much time to waste, Yusuke. I'd like to have these girls returned to their families as soon as possible. I'd rather not have their spirits be escorted to the Spirit World just yet. Good luck." Koenma waved good-bye and with that the screen went black.

Miki stepped away from the screen and crossed the floor. She leaned against the wall. Reaching for something behind her back, she dug her hand into her back pocket. Everyone had their eyes trained on her, but she didn't seem to notice. It was like she was oblivious to everything around her. Their staring went completely unnoticed. She retrieved a packet of gum from her back pocket, took no more than three pieces, stuffing the wrappers in one of her front pockets. All three pieces were put into her mouth, and she began chewing.

"Do I get to help you or am I going to be asked to back off?"

Yusuke didn't understand this girl.

"You can't even pronounce the name of the restaurant. I'm not doing anything important. Why don't you let me help?"

"You...want to help?" Yusuke still couldn't wrap his head around her words. "You've got demons chasing you, and you want to help?"

"First of all, I don't even need help protecting myself. Second, fewer and fewer demons are showing up, so the guy is probably giving up. Third, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. You'd need somebody who speaks the language to get around the words, and let's face it, you don't really have much class."

"Looks who talking," he scoffed.

"_I _can at least fake it," Miki state matter of factually. "I can also kick butt and stay under cover. I have some of the same physical characteristics as those other girls, so unless you've got somebody else in mind, please feel free to use her as bait instead of me."

The three of them looked at her and then at each other. Kuwabara went up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. He whispered low.

"Do you really want to do this? It could be dangerous."

"I laugh in the face of danger. Ha, ha, ha." Miki blew a bubble, a defiant smirk spread across her face.

"I don't think she's going to change her mind." Yusuke shrugged. "We might as well let her do it."

"Has she always been like this?" Asked Kurama.

Kuwabara nodded.

Miki chuckled, smacking her gum as she chewed. "You make it sound like a bad thing."

"It's, uh, it's getting late. We can pick up tomorrow." Yusuke yawned.

"Do you have a place to sleep tonight, Miki," Kuwabara's concern was plain as day. He couldn't shake that worried look he still had on like a mask he couldn't rip off.

Miki blew another bubble. "I've got arrangements."

"We'll walk you home," Yusuke offered.

Miki pouted. "Really? I just had a miniature tirade about being independent, and you tell me you're going to walk me home?"

"I think Kuwabara would be more comfortable if we did." He nodded towards him.

She knew she would regret doing it, but she looked at Kuwabara. It was like looking a sad puppy, an odd-looking one at that. She couldn't simply say no to those big, stupid eyes of his. Even she could tell he was worried about her, and you'd have to be blind to miss that. Perhaps it would have been better if she hadn't said anything at all about the demons and such? Oh well. It wasn't as if a Tardis was laying around somewhere for her to use to go back and stop her from saying that stuff. Heaving an annoyed and tired sigh, she conceded.

"Alright, if it'll make you happy, I'll let you walk me home," Miki moved away from the wall and started for the door. "But only for tonight."

"Well, gee, don't sound so enthusiastic." Yusuke called after her.

When they were gone, Kurama relaxed himself.

* * *

"See what I mean, Hiei?"

The fire apparition appeared out of nowhere.

"Hm, she doesn't seem to be so special."

Kurama shook his head. "Don't be fooled. She's more powerful than you think."

"How much powerful is she? Her spiritual energy is so low she might as well be dead. I think you're delusional if you think that I should be frightened like child."

"I believe that she is storing her energy. She has much more than what appears to your eyes, Hiei."

"I think that the one who needs to open his eyes is you. She's just a human girl, no more terrifying than that big lug she's friends with."

"You didn't see her electrocute a demon with just her bare hand and kill him." He didn't mean to raise his voice. He had been choking back his anxities since he had seen Miki kill that demon earlier.

Was he actually afraid of her? Only by a fraction. It was her ability to kill someone with just a touch of her hand, a power truly worthy to be called terrifying, worried him the most. He wondered what else she was capable of.

"I won't believe it until I see it for myself." Hiei scoffed.

"Very well." Kurama submitted to defeat. "There's demon hunter blood in her veins. It's hard not to notice it."

Hiei nodded. "Yes, that much is true," he paused. "She's accurate. I'll give her that."

* * *

"I've already made arrangements to live in our old apartment. We never sold it and kept up with the payments. It should be in the same condition it was in when we left." Miki walked continued down the street well ahead of the two boys tagging behind her.

The sun had already set. Street lamps lit up the shadows, their figures gliding past the sidewalks, streets, and cars.

"How can she walk so fast?" Yusuke whispered to Kuwabara.

He could only shrug. "She's always had an enormous amount of energy. She's always been like this, but..."

Kuwabara then became lost in his own thoughts. He stared at the back of Miki's head, her dark hair was now nearly invisible against the shadows of the night descending. The only tell-tale sign of her was her bright red backpack leading the way.

"Something's different about her."

"It's been like eight years, of course she's different."

Kuwabara shook his head. "It's something else. Her personality is the same, for the most part, but there's something that I can't put my finger on."

"If you say so," they temporarily lost sight of Miki when she turned around the corner.

They quickly ran to catch up with her, fearing the worst. Kuwabara couldn't shake this bad feeling. The idea of Miki being alone somehow frightened him. Did he really act like an older brother around her? When she left his sight, it was impossible to ignore the tight knot in his belly. He almost sighed with relief when he spotted her red backpack again. She turned her head, glancing over her left shoulder. She winked at him and smirked as if she knew what he was thinking and was just trying to reassure him that everything was alright.

"Hurry up slow pokes! Who's walking whom?" Miki joked.

It took a while before they could catch up with her. For a girl with skinny-looking legs she moved pretty fast; tiny girls were supposed to move quickly but not as fast Miki did. And the only reason why the caught up with her was because she walked up to a small apartment with the porch light turned off. Looking around, they realized that they weren't too far from Kuwabara's own apartment. Theup red backpack was dumped on the ground by her feet; Miki was standing in front of the dark door. She knelt by her backpack, sitting on her haunches. There was the sound of a zipper being undone, and her arm was shoved into one of the deep pockets. Yusuke didn't know how big her pack must have been on the inside, but it must have been like a cave. Her arm seemed to be being eaten by the red pack, its tiny teeth gnawing on her upper arm.

Even in the dark, the nearest street lamp being five feet away from the apartment, they could see the struggle shadow her face as she groped blindly around the insides of her backpack. She mumbled both in Japanese and Chinese before her eyes lit up. Seemingly finding what she was looking for, Miki retrieved her arm from the clutches of her backpack, and a set of bright, shiny keys twinkled in the dark porch. The pack was zipped up again and slung over her shoulder with a grunt. It was several minutes before she managed to find the lock and slid the key in.

The door opened with a creak. She reached her other hand in and felt against the wall by the door. A light flickered on, yellowish light revealed a dust covered hallway, beige coverings draped over what could have been framed family photos.

"It's like we never left." Miki sighed, though she no longer paid attention to the two behind her.

"If you're good to go, we'll be going now." Yusuke started back down pebbled pathway back to the street. "Are you coming, Kuwabara?"

Kuwabara ignored him and went inside, pulling the keys out of the lock and putting them on the lonely key rack nailed to the wall on one side of the door. He followed Miki into the living room where he found her plopped down on a sofa, which was also draped in a beige dust cover. Her backpack was left on the floor. The worn out tennis shoes on her feet were kicked aside. Her black eyes were staring up at the ceiling, looking off into space. He pulled the cord on the nearest lamp, though he didn't expect it to turn on. Luckily, it worked. But Miki didn't seem to notice the new light. With the lamp now shining in the living room, it cast new shadows under her eyes. He couldn't tell if it was just the angle of the lamp or if this was the first time he noticed the dark circles under her eyes. For a while he didn't say anything. He balled his hands into fists under they shook under the pressure building inside him.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Miki looked startled. She woke as if from a dream before turning towards him. Leaning away from the sofa's cushion, she sat with her fingers knitted together like in prayer. Quickly, she turned her eyes away from him and stared at the wood floor.

"It's just...been a long time since I've been home." Her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm kind of tired. I think I'd like to bed soon."

He silently nodded. Kuwabara headed for the door, which he intended to lock for her on his way out.

"You know where I live. Don't be afraid to call me if something goes wrong."

She gave him a thumbs up. "I won't."

Miki lowered her arm as soon as Kuwabara's footsteps drew further and further way. She folded her hands again just as the door closed shut. From her lips, a heavy sigh escaped her lips. Falling back against the sofa, a cloud of dust nearly choking her, it was the first time that she admitted to the small tears welling up in the corner of each eye. She had to hide them from Kazuma. He couldn't see them, he couldn't see her like this. He would ask questions. She didn't want him to answer them. She swallowed the lump in her throat as two big tears trickled down her cheek.

"I'm home, mom and dad."


End file.
